Augustine and Science

Science in the modern sense did not exist for Augustine, or indeed for any of his contemporaries, nor were the events of the material universe and the physical-temporal bodies located within it of any great importance to him. Nor was his purpose in writing the Confessions to explain the natural world, but rather to uphold the Truth (in the sense of absolute and eternal Truth as revealed by God) of the Bible and Christianity against its opponents, particularly the Manichean dualists. Augustine has no interest in the natural world in and of itself, or even any real curiosity about nature except as it turns the mind to reflection about the enteral nature of God and the soul (Confessions, 10.6). He rejects the pride, lust and vanity of the material world, including the pride that philosophers took on their wisdom and learning, in favor of following the example...
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